The Mistakes Of Misfits
Chapter 9

Journal of Sumi Ravenguard page 75

Otah led us into the halls of the monastery. It was... beautiful. Large ornate pillars of gold and red held up a large swirling sky like painting on the ceiling of the hallway. It was dazzling the way the painting almost flowed around us as we walked. The rest of the monastery seemed to be adorned in similar colors. I had never seen a space so clean, especially one that housed so many people.

We were escorted by the seven monks who had guarded us in the room. They held their blades at their sides, not directly attacking but making sure we knew they were ready if we tried anything. Other monks passed us and exchanged a few curious glances, but nothing more once they saw Otah leading us.

Otah was... strained. He looked around at each person passing as if they might strike us. He did not move for his weapons but he was tense the entire walk. It seems our story really put the monk on edge.

The monastery was massive and we were led for about ten minutes before we reached the large pair of iron doors. The doors almost seemed to have a fiery red glint to them as we approached. Otah stopped before the door. "You are to meet Serena, the lady of fire. She is Surin's chosen, you will show respect and speak when spoken to. Do I make myself clear?"

I had a thousand witty retorts lined up in my head, but I nodded. I wanted to see this lady of fire more than I wanted to be a smart ass. Varrin did the same, keeping his power down but ready at a moment's notice.

Otah nodded, almost grimley as he opened the iron doors. Before the entrance even fully opened we heard the sound of battle as one male voice and one female voice grunted in the distance. We entered the room and before I could get a good look at the area a large figure hit the ground and slid right in front of us.

The figure was on his back but looked up to us. "Hello." He greeted us with a toothy smile. Those teeth were pearly white as if they had never been tarnished by the world. His skin was the same way. Smooth and tan, almost looking like a statue. He looked perfect in that innocent way as he fixed his shoulder length blond hair and dragged those deep brown eyes to Varrin and I. He didn't wear the robes like the other monks. He wore armor like the soldiers in the cities. He was a templar, and I pretty high up one at that. Most likely a lord's son or something like that.

Steps followed the blond man around the corner. "On your back again. Kasious if only you fought as well as you..." Her voice stopped when she saw us. She was a slender tone figure, being a bit shorter than Varrin in height. Her body was toned to a lethal accuracy, making her nimble enough to dodge any blows coming toward her but also dishing them out as well. She had a sharp chin and ruby red lips. Quite beautiful by most standards and she wore tight fighting leathers adorned with fiery red accents that clashed with the jet black hair she had tied back in a small ponytail.

This was very clearly Serena the 'lady of fire' she didn't seem like a wise old leader. If anything Otah seemed to fit that mold better. She gave us both a warm smile. "You two must be my guests. I am Serena, this man here is Kasious." She gestured to the templar. Kasious did a small bow toward us and gave us a friendly smile, much too welcoming for someone who could easily be his enemy. Serena looked back at us. "Good to see you weren't what Otah feared."

I took a step toward Serena. "And what might that be?" I asked her. The air in this room felt warm, almost humid in a way.

Serena's smile didn't change. "Shape shifters." She answered. "We've run into a strange variety of beasts that dared come out of that mountain. Mostly mindless beasts that were more or less easy to fell but a few have been... tricky. We take no chances any more. I hope the experience wasn't too unpleasant."

Unpleasant? I would show her fucking unpleasant. Before I could react Varrin stepped in front of me. "So... since we clearly are not the shape shifters you believe us to be. Can we go home?" His voice was wary and his eyes darted around the room. He was looking for escape routes in the sparring room. The blond man that Serena was sparring with a moment ago stood up and joined Otah behind us.

Serena shook her head as she paced back and forth across the sparring pad. She looked like a panther and we were her prey. "I'm still interested to know exactly how you got to our little mountain pass. You are a mage and the orc is clearly from the Roven tribe. So how did you two become such good friends?" Neither of us denied the claim. We were not friends but we knew the bait that was being laid out for us.

Varrin answered her this time. "We were stuck in an abyss full of creatures that wanted to eat us. We both thought we were the slightly better alternative." I smirked. There he was. The charming always in control mage I had fought with underground. He gave Serena a devish smirk and a small bow. "We simply were victims of the abyss's magic and creatures. We would like to just return home." He bowed his head and waited for the response of Serena.

Serena ran cold calculating eyes over both of us. That look told me she was much older than the beautiful curved face and toned thirty something year old body suggested. "Well, I just have one more test of you two then." She responded.

I thought for a brief moment that she was going to ask another question but the monks behind us pushed us into the arena. The ground was soft and moved like sand as I caught my footing. Serena gave the both of us a rye childish smile. "I wish to see how you survived the abyss of the depraved." She got in a defensive stance. "Show me and I will let you walk out of here, and provide you with provisions for your journey. I'll even sweeten the pot and tell you everything my scouts have told me of your upcoming war."

Varrin chuckled. "You can't be serious." He mused. He put his hand on his staff and looked at me. He seemed almost confused by the lady of fire.

I shrugged at him. We had been captured, chained up and interrogated. I was ready to let off some steam. "I say we give the lady what she wants." I told him. He smirked seeing my response. He knew that look in my eyes, knew what I wanted.

"Fine, but if we're going to have fun. Let's do it right." He put his hand on my arm. I felt a large rush of healing magic stitch together the last of the pain from my arm. I felt the strength return to it. My mouth curved up into a smile and I removed the once-broken arm out of its sling and unsheathed both shortswords.

I turned to Serena and steeled myself for the fight ahead. "Let's kick her ass." I said. Varrin shot a bolt of lightning at Serena and she expertly dodged out of its path, only to be met by my flurry of swings. I didn't know how but she dodged every single swing like she was made of vapor. She caught my hands and held me still. She was surprisingly strong. Much, much stronger than I anticipated.

Serena gave me a devilish smirk. "So strong... yet so much to prove." She pushed me back and while I kept .my footing she gave me a kick to the gut. I reeled back in pain. Serena smiled. "You don't fit anywhere, little orc. So strong but no place to use that strength."

I gritted my teeth. "You know nothing about me!" I said to her, I rushed the lady of fire. Serena didn't even uncross her arms. She simply weaved around myself while also somehow dodging the spells that Varrin flung as well. I quickened my pace.

She pulled one of the blades out of my hand like I was a child and threw it at Varrin. The sword didn't hit the mage but it pinned his tunic to the wall. He struggled to pull the blade out as I continued my assault on Serena. She hit me with her elbow, it felt like my jaw lit on fire. I fell to the floor and the lady of fire simply stood over me.

"I know you miss Ravenguard, more than you know yourself." Her face wasn't the usual cocky smile. It had just for a moment, turned into a solemn nod. I didn't know how she knew who I was... and I didn't care. I brought up my fist attempting to connect my strike with her jaw. Serena easily dodged back and landed her foot on the same section of my jaw, sending me reeling on the floor.

Varrin ran past me, tunic ripped at the shoulder where he had to tear it to escape the sword. He made a blade of ice and swung it at Serena's head. She picked up the second blade I had dropped and blocked his strike with it. "Very strange for a mage to be so reliant on his physicality. Perhaps you're making up for something else."

Varrin gritted his teeth and he teleported back. "You want to see a mage?" He asked in anger. He waved his arm and two copies of himself formed at his sides. "I'll show you what I can do." The copies rushed Serena.

Serena merely raised an eyebrow before dropping back and avoiding the strikes of the two copies. The original Varrin raised a pillar of earth that narrowly avoided the lady of fire. Serena looked unphased. She ran forward, faster than either of us expected and slammed her fist into Varrin's jaw.

She grabbed Varrin by the back of his head and slammed his face into the floor. I heard the concrete under the sand crack with the impact. "Just a poor miserable excuse for a mage. You are not worthy."

I felt the rage flow off of rage build as I saw the red aura form around him. "Shut up!" He screamed. His power blasted Serena off of him and a smile crossed her face.

"Finally." She muttered. Varrin was attacking her within a second. His bare shoulder drove into her gut. Varrin struck her with blow after blow but Serena simply laughed as she delivered a flurry of blows herself. They exchanged blows for a moment, no strategy, no tricks. They punched each other until finally The lady of fire drove her elbow into the mages gut so hard he fell back and his aura faded.

Varrin reeled back and fell beside me. "This isn't working." I told Varrin as I stood up. I could feel my entire body on fire but I forced myself into a fighting position. "You got one of your genius plans ace?"

Varrin chuckled. His mind seemed to have come back to him after his aura dropped. "I've got a stupid one." He responded. He wiped a bit of blood from his mouth. "Focus on moving her, even if it doesn't hurt her, just get her backing up. I'll do the rest." His hands cracked with arcane energy as he waited for my move.

I faced Serena and smiled. I ran at her, one fist up as if I was going to strike her face. She put up her hands ready to stop any blow I was going to throw at her. That's when I made my move. I dropped my shoulders and wrapped my arms around her hips in a perfect tackle.

I could swear I saw a moment of surprise on Serena's face as her feet left the ground. Varrin threw up a wall of stone behind her. I took the opportunity and slammed her into the wall. I heard the satisfying gasp of air from the lady of fire as she pushed off of me but wanted in front of me.

Varrin spun his hands and the wall of stone became malleable mud. "Now!" He screamed. I rushed Serena before she could properly catch a breath. I hit her once, twice, three times across her chest. She tried to block my strikes but she was still winded. I grabbed one of her arms and slammed it into the wall.

Varrin dropped his hands and the mud solidified into stone once more, trapping Serena's arm in the wall. She flailed her free arm and I went to work. Varrin and I worked on perfect unison. Every punch she blocked from me was met with a shard of ice to her gut. Every spell she blocked with her bracers, met with an elbow to the jaw. We continued the assault for what felt like forever.

Eventually Serena started to laugh as we hit her. The change in mood was so unnerving we didn't know how to react. We both took a step back. She ripped her arm out of the wall of stone like it was made of paper. "Bravo!" She said as she started to clap slowly. She wiped away a bit of blood from her lip. "It's been a long time since I tasted blood."

Varrin and I stood firm on our defense. We still were sure if this was part of our little test. Serena let out a thunderous laugh seeing our wariness. "Calm down, you two have passed our little test."

Varrin and I let our shoulders slump. "We'll take that information now." He told her. He felt the bruises covering his face.

"Over dinner" she responded "Welcome to Kel Drago. Home of the order of Surin."

We were led down the monastery to a large mess hall. A few monks sat and ate but it was still too early for a normal meal. Serena, Otah and Kasious sat down with us. We devoured the meal like animals. Varrin and I hadn't had anything to eat other than the small unseasoned meats by the fire the night before. Each bit of food felt like a blessing from Atika.

As soon as I was able to gain the self control to pull away from my food I explained the situation with Varrin in detail. We explained the story of our time in the abyss and I even showed them the knife.

The second the three monks saw the knife I knew they had information for us. Even Serena looked a bit concerned when she saw the blade. She held the blade in her hands and looked at Kasious. "You don't think?" She started.

Kasious gave her a silent nod. "It would make sense. Ballsy but it fits their motives." He hadn't been this serious usually from what I could tell. They both stared at the knife and fell into heavy thought.

"Anything you'd like to share?" I asked them sarcastically. Serena and Kasious snapped out of their daze and turned back to me.

Serena cleared her throat. "Varrin is right. This knife does not belong to a mage. We've been running into people carrying similar artifacts." She looked back to Kasious and Otah, sizing up the risks of telling us about the truth. She sighed. "There's a group of powerful cultists who worship the demon king. They have been gaining power rather quickly. They call themselves the eyes of the snake."

Varrin sat forward. "Most patron magic is regulated by the mages. No magic strong enough to pose a threat to the orcs would be sanctioned." His face darted around to each of us and I swear I could physically see the gears in his head turning. "But that energy on that knife. It could be from the demon realms."

I actually felt a bit bad for the mage as he put his head back. Kasious turned to me. "The cult has already infiltrated the templar's. The king of the capital city has already been compromised by their influence."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know all this? I assume we're still in the Alabaster mountains. Travel to Durik is weeks away." Traveling to my home was even farther.

Serena nodded. "I have spies in most major courts. Even yours miss Ravenguard." Her face was casual, as if having spies in every territory was so easy.

I leaned forward as a fire lit in my chest. "Stop calling me that." I ordered her. Varrin and Kasious both twitched their eyebrows up at my anger. I sighed. "I do not wish to associate my family in all of this."

Serena nodded solemnly "Of course. I can understand that, Sumi." I looked at the other three. Kasious and Otah looked bored with the interaction but Varrin had that same inquisitive face he seemed to have whenever I spoke of my people.

I tried to change the subject. "So how do we stop this cult?" I asked them. "I don't want to go home and fight a war if it is not our own." Varrin nodded and his attention faced the monks.

Otah chuckled. "These two are ambitious. Not even out of one danger and already charging toward another." His face looked mildly amused.

Serena gave him a look that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. "There are few places where the eyes of the snake have been seen more than once or twice. Other than Durik itself. They don't like sticking around."

Kasious shrugged. "That's why we just need to take Durik. We already have the plan." He kicked his feet back and looked at Serena.

She scowled at him. "We don't know for sure if the revolution will succeed. We can't risk it. We can't risk you." There was a genuine moment of concern in her eyes and they're relationship became perfectly clear to me.

I leaned forward. "What plan does the templar have?" I asked. The pampered soldier might not have been someone I wanted to work with but the men who attacked my chieftain needed to die more.

Kasious smirked. "I have friends who have been doing work to bring down the king for months. All they need at this point is me to rally the people." He put out his arms and gave us a cocky smile.

Varrin looked over Kasious. "What makes you so important that the revolution can't work without you?" Kasious raised an eyebrow, surprised neither of us recognized him.

Otah was the first to answer. "The people will not follow a couple of revolutionaries... but they will follow a prince into battle any day." Kasious raised his chin, looking as if he was posing for a sculpture.

That at least explained the self importance and innocence of the prince. I knew he was pampered but I had no idea he was that pampered. I almost sneered at Kasious. I did not want to travel with him, I did not want to babysit him. "What are you proposing... prince." It took a lot of energy to say that last word without the spite I wished to fling his way.

Kasious shrugged. "You travel with me to Durik, help me liberate my people and I'll give you the leader of the cult. That way you keep your people from killing each other and I get my city back. You won't be able to find them without me." Kasious raised his eyebrows and waited for our response.

Varrin looked at me, then back to Kasious. "We'll travel with you. Our people mean too much to us to let an opportunity like this go." I leaned back and crossed my arms. I would not like it but he was right. We could use the prince. We kinda needed him.

Serena looked between us. "This is still only if we let you leave, prince. Are you sure you are ready to face your father?" Kasious dropped his mask of confidence and Charisma and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't wait forever. Now people outside Durik suffer, a war between the mages and orcs is bound to end in a lot of innocent blood. I need to help them." Kasious gave her a hug and the lady of fire did not move away from the gesture.

"You will... you will leave in the morning. I will train you one last time." Her eyes were full of longing and words that she would not dare say in front of anyone other than him.

He did a small bow and some of that cockyness returned. "It would be an honor my lady." He told her as he took her hand.

Serena turned to the two of us. "We will provide lodging for the two of you for the night. Otah will show you your rooms when you are ready." Without another word she left. Kasious of course joined her and we were left in the mess hall with Otah.

Eventually we were escorted back to our room. Unfortunately it was just the one space, long and rectangular with two large beds on either side. In the middle of the two beds was a door that led to a bath. The idea of warm water made me almost fall to my knees.

As soon as Otah left us alone I turned to the mage. "I don't like this plan." I told him. "I don't want the pampered prince with us." I had been stewing over it the entire walk to our rooms. The prince would only slow us down, no matter how useful he might be in Durik.

Varrin shrugged as he claimed the bed to the right. "Kasious has intimate knowledge of the terrain and of our new enemy." He turned and gave me a devilish smile. "Besides, you're already working with mage. How bad could one human be?"

"You're different!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Varrin raised his eyebrows at the statement. I haven't fully processed the feelings building for the mage, the reasons I didn't kill him like I promised him I would. I told myself it was because of the revelation with the cult... but I knew there was more.

Varrin put on a mask of calm, cocky indifference. "How am I different?" He asked me in a sarcastically sultry voice. Despite the bravado he waited expectedly for my answer, his knuckles becoming white as he leaned on the dresser.

I sighed. I couldn't tell him everything. I haven't even processed everything I feel about him yet. I looked to those bright blue eyes and I knew one part he would understand. "You're a warrior." I explained. "The bags under your eyes from losing people you care about. The scars from being beaten within an inch of your life" he felt that exposed shoulder and the scarring that marked it. I continued, "we come from different places. We carry very different weapons... but you're a warrior."

Varrin let that charismatic smile return to his face. "It's okay if you're starting to fall for me... I have that effect on people." He looked up expectantly with that fucking grin.

I gave him a playful shove on my way to the bath. "I don't even like you, I just hate you less than everyone else." He let out a small laugh as he fell. That look he gave me as he watched me enter the bathroom. That smile couldn't be what I thought it was. He looked like... like he wanted me. I put my head down and went into the bath before I did something stupid. But the thought of that smile, that body laying on the bed. It carried with me as I closed the door to the bath.

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